"嘻——，沒羞，這酒館什么時候成了你的啦？八字還沒一撇------." 桂花姐伸出一個指頭，輕輕刮了刮他的鼻子。(古華《貞女》）

不理解，請教點評

My comments:

Jumping the gun is a sporting term originally.

Next time you watch a 100-meter dash at the Olympics on live TV, watch closely.

The race begins when runners hear the sound of a gunshot, or pistol shot to be more precise - which is the signal used today to tell the players it’s time to run.

Before that, though, you’ll hear the announcer say “On your marks…. Get set”. Those are calls for the runners to move to their designated starting spots and get ready to “Go”, which shout-out is replaced now by the pistol shot in any formal sports meet.

Anyways, one or two over-eager players may move their feet before they hear the shot and that’s a foul punishable by a warning for a first time offense and by expulsion for the second time.

And that foul, a violation of rules, is called “jumping the gun”, meaning you’ve done something before their proper time or before it’s your turn.

In other words, you’re in too much of haste.

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本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.